Transmission



Marchzfi, 1 929. COLEMAN 1,707,050

TRANSMI S SION Filed March 11, 1926 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 2 G. B.COLEMAN TRANSMI S S ION Filed March 11, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet B. (.oZemawl the acceleration of the Ill) Patented Mar. 26, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,707,050 PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE n. COLEMAN, or PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, nssrenon T0 CowmanAUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION COMPANY, in CORPORATION or CALIFORNIA.

TRANSMISSION.

- Application iuea March 11, 1926. Serial No. 93,954.

I The object of the invention is to provide a transmission which willautomatically provide the increased torque necessary for starting heavyloads and gradually increase the speed of the load up to that of thedriving member; to provide a transmission of this character in which thestalling of the prime mover, by excessive loadswill be precluded; toprovide a transmission embodying? the the load, as in the case of motorvehicles descending inclines; and to provide a construction of thischaracter wherein the braking function is accomplished with the primemover running forwardly and increased by vention is housed in a casingin the forward end of which is journaled a driving member 11 and in therear end of which is similarly journaled a driven member 12, both beingmounted in antifriction. bearings 14 and represented as short shafts forrespective connection toa prime mover, such as a vehicle motor and aload, such as'a vehicle driven by the motor. The driving and drivenmembers are axially aligned and connected by a supplemental shaft 15,this latter having a pilot 16 at its forward end journaled in a socketat the rear end of the driving member and at its rear end being providedwith a socket in Which the pilot 17 on the driven member. is journaled.The

supplemental shaft '15 is supported at an in meshes with a pinion21-constituting one of.

the elements of a reverse mechanism later 1 u prime mover in afordescribed. The spur gear is provided on its rear face with a clutchelement 22 engageable with a complemental clutch member 23, the latterbeing an element of a spur gear 2 1 which is also a part of the reversemechanism. The spur gear 24 has a peripherally channeled hub 25 forsliding engagement with a fork 26,'the.latter being carried by a shifterrod 27 mounted in avslide bearing functions of a brake for theretardation of 28 carried by the casing Y By means of the shifter rodand the fork, the gear 24 and its connected clutch element 23 may bemoved axially of the supplemental shaft 15 on which it'is mounted tooperatively connect the clutch members 22 and 23, so that movement tothe supplemental shaft may be imparted either in a forwardly) or reversedirection, depgnding'on whether the clutch members are engaged, orwhether the spur gear 24 is in mesh with the idler 'pinion '29 of thereverse mechanism. The spur gear 24 has axial movement along thesupplemental shaft but is precluded from vrelative angular movementthereon. With the clutch members22 and 23 engaged, therefore, thedirection of rotation of the supplemental shaft will be the same as thatof the driving member and, therefore,,the planet carrier 30.0f what isherein denominated as a centrifugal device Wlll rotate in the samedirectlon as the drivmg member, the planet carrier being keyed to thesupplemental shaft, as indicated at 31- Planetary pinions 32 are mountedupon the planet carrier,- their shafts 33 being journaled in appropriatebearings in, the carrier'through which they extend and on the oppositeside of which they are connected with the weights 34,- the axes of the fshafts 33 being to one side of the centers of the weights 34, so that asthe carrier rotates, the tendency of the weights is to swing outwardlyand thus oppose rotation of the pinions 32 on their own axes. Thepinions 32 mesh with a gear 35 carried by the supplemental shaft 15between the carrier 30 and the bearing 18. This gear is freelymovable'around the shaft 15, so

that if the'pinions 32 rotate on their own axes, there maybe relativeangular movement between the supplemental shaft and the gear 35. Besidesmeshing with the pinions 32, the gear 35 also meshes with a gear 36, thelatter having a shaft 37 journaled in anti-friction bearings 38.mountedin the web 19, the shaft extending through the web and receivingon its opposite end a pin- 4 ion 39 meshing witha gear 40 keyed, as

at 41, to a second carrier, the latter consisting of the complementalelements 42 and. 43 connected to provide a carrier or supporting meansfor the planetary gears 44 and pinions 44. This latter carrier spans theconnecting ends of the supplemental shaft and the driven member, beingfloatingly mounte .with respect to both, since its element 4' is looselymounted on the supplemental shaft and the element 43 loosely mounted onthe driven member. The planetary gears 44 and pinion 44 mesh with thepinion 45 and gear 46 carried respectively at the rear end of thesupplemental shaft and the forward end of the drivenmember and shown inthe illustrated embodiment of the invention as integral parts of thetwo. When the gears 44 and pinions 44*"- are rotating on their own axes,the carrier comprising the elements 42 and 43 is rotating either in areverse direction to that of the supplemental shaft 15 or at a slowerangular speed than the latter and thus motion is communicated to thedriven member at a reduced speed represented by the then active traincomprising the gearing 45, 44, 44 and 46.

For a purpose hereinafter appearing, means is provided to preventrotation'in either direction of the carrier comprising the elements 42and-43. This means com prises a band 47 having a lining 48 forfrictionally engaging the peripheral surface of 'theelement 43 of thecarrier and that portion of the element '42 which the band overlaps; Theband is mounted 'forcontraction, diametrically of the carrier and tothis end is terminallyconnected to a rocker '49 on diametricallyopposite sides of a rock shaft 50 by which the rocker is carried.

Angular or turning movement to the rock shaft 50 will obviously shiftthe rocker and thus elfect, contraction. of the band diametrically ofthe carrier when the lining will be brought into frictional engagementwith the peripheral surface thereof and prevent any rotation of thecarrier, since the shaftand rocker are carried by thecasing so that theband is, therefore, bodily fixed with reference to the casing.-

The reverse mechanism hereinbefore referred to consistsof means forimparting to the supplemental-shaft 15 a direction of rotation reverseto that of the driving member, this means consisting of the pinions 21and 51 relatively fixed and rotatably mounted on a countershaft 52journaled at the forward end in the front. wall of the easing, asindicated at 53, and at the rear end having a journal 54 rotatablymounted in a [bearing in the web 55 formed as an integral partof.thecasing. In the illustrated emand 51 and their connecting sleeve 56are integral elements and the pinion 21 meshes with the idler pinion 29.In the one position of the gear 24, it is also in mesh with the pinion29 and in this position the clutch elements 22 and 23 are disengaged.There fore, motion tothe supplemental shaft 15 is communicated to thelatter from the driving member '11 through the train represented by thegear 20, the pinions 21, 51 and 29 and the gear 24. The presence of thepinion 29 in this train efl'ects an angular movement to the supplementalshaft the reverse of the driving member.

The movement of the gear 24 along the supplemental shaft, as by theactuation of the shifter rod 27 will effect first the disengagement ofthe gear 24 and pinion 29 and, if at this moment no further movement ofthe shifter rod be made, the gear 24 will stand in a position where itis neither in mesh with the pinion 29 nor its clutch member 23 engagedwith the clutch element 22. In such position no motion is communicatedto the supplemental shaft from the driving member and hence no' movementof the driven member can take place. Further forward movement of theshifter rod will effect engagement of the clutch members 22 and 23 whenthe movement of the supplemental shaft will be in the same direction asthe driving memher and at the same speed since it will be communicateddirectly through the clutch elements. 7 v

Since the invention is designed primarily for use in connection withmotor vehicles, let it be assumed that it forms the transmissionmechanism of such a vehicle and that the driving member 11 is connectedto the vehicle engine and the driven member 12 to thepropeller shaft. Ifthe vehicle is to be started, the shifter rod is actuated to engage theclutch elements 22 and 23. The supplemental shaft 15 will thereupon berotated at the speed of the driving member but the driven member 12 willnot immediately be rotated at this speed. A torque will be imparted tothe latter, however, in excess of the torque of the driving member butat a reduced speed, since the carrier comprising the elements 42 and 43is free to rotate relative to both the. supplemental shaft and thedriven member, as is also the carrier 30 and its attendant pinions 32and weights 34. Since the supplemental shaft 15 rotates at \the speed ofthe driving member '11, the pinion '45 will rotate at this speed andthis pinion than the supplemental shaft 15 and the driv- III III

en member'12; or, if the load be great enough, will rotate in a reversedirection movement of the weights represents a force tending to opposethe rotation of the pinions 32 on their own axes and this force appearsas a turning force tending to rotate the gear gear 36, pinion 39 andgear 40 the carrier comprising the elements 42 and 43 is given a turningimpulse in the direction of rotation of the supplemental shaft and thusturning "movement is gradually increased by infinitesimal incrementsuntil the, carrier is accelerated up to the speed of the supplementalshaft, when the pinions 32 will cease rotation on their own axes, aswell as the gears 44 and pinions 44 and at this time the speed of thedriven member will be in synchronism with the supplemental shaft and thedriving member. ()bvi'ously, the cessation of the axial rotation of thepinions 32 will take place when the heavier ends of the weights 34 aredisposed outwardly. This is due to the centrifugal force acting upon theweights in the rotation of the carrier 30.

The braking effect obtained by the construction is secured by theactuation of the rock shaft 50 to effect diametrical contraction of theband 47, as when the vehicle in connection with which the mechanism isemployed is descending an incline. contraction of the band 47 will'stopthe rotation of the carrier comprising the elements 42 and 43. But thedriving member 11 and supplemental shaft 15 are moving in a forwarddirection as well as the driven member 12 and the tendency of the loadunder normal conditions would be to accelerate the driving member, butwith the present construction the reverse takes place-that is, theforward movement of the driving member tends to retard movement of thedriven member at a greater angular. speed than the driving member whenthe carrier 42-43 is at rest. Under such'conditions, there would be atendency of the driven member to rotate the gears 44 and pinions 44 ontheir own axes and a conse- The quent tendency to rotate thesupplemental shaft through the gear 45 and, were no opposing forcePIOVldGd, this turning force would appear in the driving member whereinit would be opposed only by the tendency of the driving motor or engineto resist acceleration. When the planet carrier 4243 is at rest, thegear 40 is also at rest and this gear being in mesh with the pinion 39,that also must be at rest as well as the gear 36 carried by the sameshaft as the pinion. Also, the gear 35 must remain at rest but this gearmeshing with the pinions 32 and the carrier 30 by which these pinionsare carried moving with the shaft 15, the pinions 32 are caused torotate on their own axes, with a resultant inward and outward movement"of the weights 34,. which. movement opposes axial rotation of thepinions which appears as a retarding force to the movement of thecarrier' and consequently as a retarding force against acceleration ofthe driving member due to a turning force applied through the drivenmember. Obviously, under these conditions, the increase of the speed ofthe driving motor and the consequent increase of speed of the drivingmember intensifies the retarding force in that it provides for anincreased angular velocity of the pinions 32. -Thus, the constructionfunctions the reverse of the ordinary arrangement to apply a retardingforce in the descent of an incline.

The reverse mechanism comprised in the construction functions merely toimpart to the supplemental shaft 15 a turning movement the reverse ofthat of the driving member 11, and 'in such reverse turning movement theautomatic gear reduction mechanism functions just as in the forwardmovement of the supplemental shaft, as does also the centrifugal devicerepresented by the planet carrier 30 and its attendant pinions 32 andweights 34.

The invention having been described, what is claimed as new and usefulis:

A transmission comprising driving and driven members, a supplementalshaft aligned with and connecting said members, the adjacent ends ofsaid driven member and supplemental shaft being provided with pinions, aplanet carrierspanning the connected ends of said driven member andsupplemental shaft and having planetary pinions meshing with the pinionson said member and shaft, and a centrifugal device consisting of acarrier fixed to said supplemental shaft and weight controlled pinionsoperatively connected with the first said carrier.

In testimony whereof he affixes his signa-

